i remembered a book i was reading awhile ago
that is related to so many issues on the list
in relation to history, perceptions, thoughts
of space/time/place. there was one section in
it which made me question if what is happening
in the world today is a result of a historical
event that has carried its way into the present
without being addressed or fixed, which could
be made manifest with terrorism and war today.
the book is 'early greek science: thales to
aristotle' by g.e. lloyd, ancient culture and
society series, the norton library, c.1970.
i was reading it because of the results of a
discovery i had while studying architecture,
and investigating the common structure of the
american-english alphabet; in short, one can
find a common symbolic origin for all letters
and numbers if overlaying atop one another.
i coined a name for this symbol: HIOX, as it
is these four letters which are unique in the
way they operate within the set if placed in
3D and 4D space. basic information is online:
http://www.electronetwork.org/exhibits/hiox/
in any case, this HIOX symbol is everywhere
in ancient (greek and) roman symbology, and
yet nowhere is it given a name, defined, etc.
it is in most movies of the era, and appears
to be a secret symbol that survives from that
time into the present day, found in courthouses
and police stations and government buildings
in the .US for example. in any case, studying
this symbol (which is universal, and is found
all over the world) led to early mathematics
and philosophy and plato's work in particular.
there are many wonderful things about this
symbol such that it can scale as a fractal,
it is superior to geodesics for cartography,
it is a way to square the circle, etc. etc.
it is also a cosmology of how things relate,
of fundamental forces of early philosophy.
so, this is something that is found as a
detail in architecture, ancient and today.
it is in grillwork, structure members, it
is a pattern that contains much information.
much of the graphic beauty of near east arts
is found in similar graphic information of
mosaics, calligraphy, tessellation, tiling.
and if looking for a context for these very
similar developments, or types of perceptions
that are common in terms of ornament, detailing,
writing, this symbol is a key or bridge between
worlds of near/middle east and west (far east,
south east, too). i remember we discussed the
aesthetics and meaning of such designs years
ago on the list and i was sent a most beautiful
poem from someone no longer active on the list,
in arabic, and it now reminds me of the recent
exhibit of chinese art. it is nearly identical
in concept, though culturally so very diverse.
the point of sharing this context of a strange
architectural symbol, HIOX as i call it, is
that it led me to this book which then led me
to question if there may be a reason for the
vastly different ideas about how the world is
fit together today and if it may have, in some
way, a historical origin in what to my mind is
a significant and evident difference in world-
views, between individuals and groups of the
near- and middle-east and 'western' countries,
in the sense of a major confrontation that is
revolving largely around cultural perceptions
and how they are handled, addressed, clashing.
the book had the secret symbol in it, a drawing
of its construction, it is plato's cosmology of
the elements which together likely make up the
entire symbol. thus air, earth, fire, and water
are composed of combinations of triangles, both
the right-angled isosceles and half equilateral.
so, HIOX in the end of my speculation is likely
the integrative symbol of the 5th element, the
aether, or electromagnetic quintessence which
someday, before i die, i hope to write about.
(and make some electronic jewelry based on it:
http://www.electronetwork.org/articles/emj/ ).
regardless, what it opens up in terms of ideas
is also at a point of major fracture between
views of the world of ideas at this exact time,
or so says the book. it is at the intersection
of pre-greek civilizations that a major cultural
split occurs and Thales of Miletus (Turkey) is
considered to be the first western philosopher
(accredited with 'discovering' electricity).
it was of a context of babylonian mathematics,
astronomy and other advances and events that
a new approach to (public) thinking developed:
[cont.]
i am typing out pages of this book now, and
the reason is because it is possibly a very
clear connection to current events, though
a few thousand years ago being the context
in which to consider the present day ideas.
therefore, issues of culture, communication,
identity, war, public and private, science
and philosophy, geometry are all related in
this way- i.e. basis for the War of Terror,
and why it does and does not make sense in
terms of a possible global short circuit...
these ideas are being proposed as a common
vantage of the conceptual situation and not
as a judgment of situations... i think there
is really something to this so i hope those
interested read the quotes, i wish there
were more of the near and middle east on
the list to actively discuss the upcoming
posts as it is intended as a common view,
that it may be a gap between cultures...